Hiring a hauler for appliances and wet furniture

City pickup may take weeks. The fridge is already a biology project. Paying someone to take the heavy stuff can be rational.

It can also be a guy with a trailer who dumps your life in a vacant lot off the North Freeway and leaves you the fine.

Ask where the load is going. Get a number that is a company, not a first name.

Do this now

1. Photograph appliances with model and serial still readable. Tape fridge doors shut.
2. Get a written haul price: per load, per item, or per hour, plus the dump fee.
3. Ask which landfill or transfer station they use. Vague answers are a no.
4. Pay after the pile is actually gone, or in a small deposit plus the rest on completion.

Appliances are their own mess

A flooded fridge is hazardous food plus a sealed box. Tape it. Do not leave it open on the curb in September. Window units and washers hold water. Drain them if you can do it without making a worse puddle. If the city is picking up appliances on a separate pass, you may not need a private hauler at all. Check first.

Furniture and wet particle board

It is heavy, it falls apart, and charities will not take it. A hauler who bids by the piece will win. A hauler who bids “the whole house” on a handshake will grow the price when they see the back bedroom. Walk them through once. Write the rooms. Houston humidity makes tomorrow’s pile worse, not better, so do not wait for a perfect Saturday.

The illegal-dumping handoff

If the price is magic-low, they may be planning to dump. You can still get tagged if it is your stuff with your mail in the drawer. Ask for a receipt from the transfer station. If they refuse, hire someone else. Report illegal dumping to Houston 311 or Harris County. Do not chase a trailer down a feeder road.

Do this next

1. What the city or county will pick up after a flood
2. Where to pile debris so trucks can actually take it
3. Commercial providers hub

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